–says bank accounts closure tied to US sanctions compliance
Vice President Dr Bharrat Jagdeo has strongly rejected accusations made by five individuals aligned with the We Invest In Nationhood (WIIN), whose bank accounts were recently cancelled by the Demerara Bank Limited (DBL).
These individuals have accused the governing People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) of political victimisation.
Dr Jagdeo, during a news briefing on Thursday, rubbished these claims as entirely false, stating that the Bank’s decisions are in keeping with global banking requirements.
The three of the five individuals namely Odessa Primus, Natasha-Singh Lewi, and Duarte Hertsberger have appeared on the List of Candidates for the WIIN party, a political movement led by United States-sanctioned businessman Azzrudin Mohamed.
Mohamed and his father, Shell Mohamed were sanctioned by the Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) in 2024 for public corruption, tax evasion and smuggling gold.
This move, Dr Jagdeo explained, is deeply rooted in global banking regulations.
“That’s the fact of the matter,” Dr Jagdeo explained during a party press conference held at Freedom House on Thursday.
He said, “The fact is that [if] the banks in Guyana …lose two things: access to the SWIFT,” they are at serious risk of being shut out of the global financial system.
SWIFT is a secure network used by financial institutions worldwide to facilitate international money transfers. It is a critical component of global banking.
“When the U.S. wanted to sanction Russia, [they] moved to remove [Russia] from SWIFT…If you lose access to that, you might as well shut down the bank. You can’t function,” Dr Jagdeo explained, noting that this is crucial to paying for imports and exports of goods.
And so he rejected the opposition’s claims that the move was discriminatory or politically influenced.
Instead, he pointed out that the individuals are now formally associated with an organisation (WIIN), led by a person sanctioned by the U.S. Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC).
“You’re part of an organisation called WIIN, headed by a man who is sanctioned. So you’re subjected to enhanced scrutiny [and] no bank will want to risk that relationship with the U.S,” he pointed out.
Dr Jagdeo warned that other banking institutions will follow suit to protect their interests within the global banking system.
